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There's something that's not yet clear to me about the new EU rules about roaming.

Let's say that I have an Italian phone number. If I call a German phone number from Italy with my Italian phone number I'm not covered by the new rules as I'm not roaming.

But if I go to Germany and with my Italian number I call a German number is that going to be considered roaming or it's going to be the same as the previous situation (call to German number from Italian number in Italy)?

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    It's the same situation as if you used your Italian phone to call a German number in Italy. The idea is that your location within Europe doesn't matter, but whom you call still matters and the country of your SIM card will still matter. I'm sure I'm simplifying a lot here, so I won't give a full answer.
    – Calchas
    Commented Sep 9, 2017 at 18:05
  • That's my idea as weel @Calchas but I've not been able to find a confirmation anywhere, even the FAQ on the EU website aren't very clear on this matter
    – Matteo Pagliazzi
    Commented Sep 9, 2017 at 20:48
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    @Calchas under the EU regulations, once you step foot into Germany, any calls to a German number become a domestic call as you have roamed onto a domestic provider. That's the intention of the rules - if a call in Italy to an Italian number costs you X, then a call in Germany to a German number will also cost you X.
    – user29788
    Commented Sep 9, 2017 at 23:12

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But if I go to Germany and with my Italian number I call a German number is that going to be considered roaming or it's going to be the same as the previous situation (call to German number from Italian number in Italy)?

Its a domestic call, as you are roaming within the EEA to another EEA destination and placing a call solely within the EEA country you are in:

Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 531/2012, roaming providers should not levy any surcharge additional to the domestic retail price on roaming customers in any Member State, for any regulated roaming call made or received, any regulated roaming SMS message sent or any regulated data roaming service used, including MMS messages, subject to a ‘fair use policy’.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32016R2286

Phone calls, SMS and going online with your mobile device from another EU country will be covered in the national bundle. The minutes of calls, SMS and megabytes of data that a person consumes abroad (within the EU) will be charged the same as at home.

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/roaming

EU Roaming Charges

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/roaming-tariffs

The EU "roam like at home" rules mean that when you use your mobile phone while travelling outside your home country in any EU country you don't have to pay any additional roaming charges. You benefit from these rules when calling (to mobile and fixed phones), sending text messages (SMS) and using data services while abroad.

You pay exactly the same price for using these services when travelling in the EU as you would if you were at home.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/telecoms-internet/mobile-roaming-costs/index_en.htm

If you were to call the German number while in Italy, that is not considered a domestic call and would be charged at your providers international rate.

If you were to call the German number while in Germany, on an Italian SIM roaming to a German provider, then that is considered a domestic call and would be charged at your providers domestic rate.

If you were to call an Italian number while in Germany, on an Italian SIM roaming to a German provider, then that would be considered an international call and would be charged at your providers international rate.

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    +1, save that for at least some EU countries' operators, when roaming abroad in Europe a call back to the home country also counts as domestic usage, see eg paragraph five. I can't speak for Italians, but when my UK mobile goes to Germany, calls to both German and UK numbers count as domestic and come out of my inclusive allowance. FAOD, calls to other EU countries while I'm in Germany do not count as domestic and are chargeable.
    – MadHatter
    Commented Sep 10, 2017 at 6:50
  • @MadHatter those do seem to be exceptions that the individual countries have put in place, or domestic operators have granted off their own back - I can't see a part of the regulation which expressly requires it. But interesting info, thanks!
    – user29788
    Commented Sep 10, 2017 at 6:59
  • It's not operator-specific, but since EU regulations are generally transposed into national law to take effect (Factortame notwithstanding) it's very possible that the UK transposition granted even more consumer rights than the directive required.
    – MadHatter
    Commented Sep 10, 2017 at 8:36
  • @MadHatter dont confuse regulations with directives - directives are what are transposed into local laws with some leeway in how they are enacted locally, regulations are self executing and are required to be enacted as-is. The UK hasn't added any law with regard to this EU regulation, so its protections and benefits will be lost in March 2019 unless the UK specifically enacts a local law to the same effect - its not part of the "Great Repeal Bill", so its powers are lost once the UK leaves the EU.
    – user29788
    Commented Sep 10, 2017 at 9:17
  • Thanks for that beautifully clear and highly-relevant summary; I stand corrected. Nonetheless, all UK carriers I know of offer the same deal; if that's not because of a UK-wide but UK-specific requirement, then I'm not sure why it is.
    – MadHatter
    Commented Sep 10, 2017 at 11:47
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Moo's answer, although elaborate, interprets the rules in a misleading way. There is one simple rule:

When you are roaming within the EEA and placing a call to an EEA country, it's always billed as if it was a domestic call in the "home country" of your SIM.

Thus while you're in Germany, any call from your Italian SIM to any EEA country (be it Germany, Italy or Spain) is considered a domestic call, just as if you were calling an Italian number while in Italy.

This is also explained in the official FAQ:

For example: If you have a Belgian card and you travel to France and call either a hotel in France, back home to Belgium, or to any other country in the EU and the EEA, you are roaming, and you will pay Belgian internal domestic prices.

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/faq/question-and-answers-roaming

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